Crazy Emu's Used Tank Blowout!

I've got a crap ton of 1/72 modern Russian tank model kits that I'm not going to be needing. All are unassembled, though a few have been opened to examine the kits. I'd like to sell them off, if I can. Feel free to email me on the email in my profile to ask what is available.

I'm looking to get about $8 a model and will ship actual postage. I'll consider offers for the whole pile.

I have the following -

Sorry for the glare. It was hard enough to get all the tanks into a single picture.

Thanks for considering,

-Eli

Armor Update

For the past months I have been slowly but surely accumulating preassembled and if possible prepainted vehicles for use in this setting. I had hoped to use plastic models but found that finding time to assemble and paint them was proving more difficult than I had hoped.

So, what I have managed to accumulate are five T-55s from two different manufacturers (Easy Model & Model Master), two Easy Model BTR-80s and an assembled Trumpeter BTR-80. The preassembled but unpainted BTR-80 was given a turret swap using a RH Models 30mm turret available separately through his website.

I have a few more vehicles on the way but am hoping to focus future purchases on soft skin vehicles and terrain elements along with more infantry. I should also note that I have a whole slew of plastic kits for Russian Hardware so there is the possibility of a big battle played in 20mm some day but only after I'm bold enough to start the grunt work.

Take care,

-Eli

Old Terrain Test [Updated]

Today Mark, Maff and myself were all discussing terrain options through email, trying to determine what sort of terrain bits would be needed for a good Alcovian battlefield. One of the things that came up was an old project I have made, nicknamed Kardograd.

When I was big into FOW, I had built town out of carboard scaled to 15mm. As the town was built on the fly and without any sort of measuring it's a little vague in it's actual scale. It included several multi-story ruins as well as many totally ruined buildings reduced to mere corners. The centerpiece had been a church, complete with bell tower. All of this was made on the fly for a game of FOW that was supposed to be played the next day. All of it was unfinished and constructed for maximum functionality by game time. The game was a success and great fun.

Flash forward to Alcovia and I pulled Kardograd out of it's tattered box to see if it would work for the 20mm figs and vehicles that I had for the Alcovia project. I snapped a few pictures of a building full of troops as well as some laid out in a sample street.

I think it works well. Take a look and tell me what you think...

 For more on this terrain check out this post on my main blog, I See Lead People.

What Miniatures to Use?

One of the things that made me decide to do this project in 20mm instead of my usual scale of 15mm was the availability of miniatures for the setting. 15mm has a good selection of miniatures up to the 80s but that is where the selection begins to thin out. Now, if I wanted to wait a few years, I'm sure 15mm would catch up to 20mm, but I don't want to wait.

It is clear that for this project, Liberation Miniatures through Rolf Hedges is the way to go. This line is full of Russian, Balkan and generic insurgents. This gives me a well-stocked pallet for the three main forces involved in the Alcovian Civil War. I have yet to get my hands on many of the codes but the figures I have seen all look nice and gives me a good idea of what to expect.

It should be obvious that the RUS codes are the starting point. Most of Alcovia's military forces on both sides of the conflict will be armed much like late 20th century Russians. For most of the troops, I'll likely go with a combination of "H" codes (M40 helmets). I can mix in a smattering of other code variants like the "B" (forage cap), "D" (fur cap), and "J' (leather jump cap) codes for variety. There are also some "V" (netted helmets) codes in the specialist figs that would be cool. I'll avoid berets and bush hats for regular army forces. The standard selection of Russian hardware will prevale here - AKs, RPKs, RPGs, etc.

For National Alcovian Army (NAA) elite Lifeguard units, I'll be going with the ultra-modern Russian figures. Because I like variety and that campaign look, I'll likely mix and match various headgear in the same unit. I will likely avoid the "S" codes as they are the newest Russian headgear and likely too modern, even for Alcovia's favored units.

Alcovian People's Army (APA) forces will likely use the same codes as the lesser NAA forces but with more variety mixed in to show that they will have been fighting with less support and tighter supply lines. The SER, CRO and EER codes could be mixed in for that added volunteer look. For these units, I can mix in a few odd weapons on the alternate codes to show that BYOG (bring your own gun) volunteer look.

For the Alcovian Liberation Front (ALF) is made up almost entirely of militias and militant activist cells as well as some hired guns. The Urban Terror Range (URB) is perfect being mostly fighters in civilian gear with a variety of equipment. These along with figures from the Multipurpose (MUL) range, armed with light kit, webbing and Russian style weapons, and perhaps even a smattering of figures from the PLO, Insurgent (INS/STS), Arab Militia (ARA) lines for added variety and to show the mutli-ethnicity of some of militias fighting (Iquenistan, etc).

Liberation has such a wide variety of figures that I am sure that I could even extend some of the variety by adding in figures from other AK-armed ranges like the African or even non-AK armed figures representing mercenaries and militias armed with black market weapons.

I do have some helmeted Russians that are wearing no tactical gear, carrying a bread bag sort of satchel that I am trying to figure out a use for. I had been considering using them as police, but even the poorest police in the world these days have tactical gear. I wonder if I could model web gear onto them?

Anyhow, this should give you an idea of where I'm going with the figures here.

Take care,

-Eli

First Minis Arrive!

Hello All,

I just received my very first Liberation minis. These also happen to be my very first 20mm metal figures.

These were purchased through one of the special offers that RH Models runs and included figures from a couple of ranges, all falling into the Eastern European troops category.

Both lots were excellent and arrived nicely packed (in recycled packaging I might add). The figures were were well cast with only a couple of bent barrels which I simply marked off to shipping stress. The metal on the figs is good quality though and the barrels bent back into place and retained their integrity.

I can't really say too much on pose variety as these were mixed lots. The lots I received had a lot of moving and standing poses but not very many shooting poses.

Overall, a very satisfactory first foray into the realm of 20mm. I will be ordering more, definitely.

-Eli